Motivation

How To Write A Rhyming Poem When You Feel Intimidated By Poetry.. Top Story - May 2026.

Nearly 20 years later - I loved publishing one. I never thought I would write a rhyming poem. Wouldn't attempt it, wouldn't even consider putting myself in a position to do so.

A Lie About Motivation. Top Story - April 2026.

Written by a human, for humans, always. --- When you think about motivation... What comes to your mind? I know that for most people...

Rise & Shine. Winner in Small Win Challenge. Top Story - April 2026.

The sun is already high in the sky…, much higher than I would like it to be. I wanted to get a good start to this day. I guess I’ll take what I can manage.

My Decision To Be Gorgeous. Runner-Up in Small Win Challenge. Top Story - April 2026.

One day I decided I was hot and became so. I am not conventionally attractive by today’s Western standards. I am highly unlikely to be on a reality dating show - because of my personality, and then on top of that my looks. I am a short “middle-thick” sometimes-bloated brown Latina with curly hair that I still have to figure out on non-wash days, and skin I just figured out how to keep mostly-free of acne. I am on the eve of turning 30, or the age where I can hardily be a valid sugar-baby contender. I have a couple of grey hairs coming in and am sincerely looking forward to more. (My mother likes to say that it is a privilege to grow old because not everyone gets to do so.) I don’t shave the hair on my arms. I say no when several eyebrow-threading ladies have offered to start with my upper lip first. I won’t even tell you about the waxers I don’t go to.

Mango Season. Runner-Up in Small Win Challenge. Top Story - April 2026.

The tree was here long before us. It was just a tree, it is almost jarring to say it out loud, in our garden. Neither of us had ever really had a garden. A balcony – a few wonky herbs and some sunflowers between us. But this tree was slightly lopsided with oversized witches’ hands for leaves. Nestled somewhere between the galangal and the lime, it was unassuming enough not to really register as anything of significance. Overshadowed by the raining tree, it had nothing to prove. For weeks, maybe months, we didn’t think about it at all. It was just part of the backdrop. Part of this new place we had yet to know.

A smile. Top Story - April 2026.

"Mom?", asks the boy, walking down the alley, on his way back from school. It's one of the days when his schedule almost perfectly aligns with the opening hours of the bakery his mom works at. When he takes a small bite of the cinnamon bun she brought, small crumbs fall onto his grey wool pullover. It is one of the last days he'll wear it. The days are getting warmer, and then there is his little brother, waiting for it to become his.

Finding the Beat of My Heart. Runner-Up in Small Win Challenge. Top Story - April 2026.

I sat in the front row, between Jennie and Ashley, in our Sunday best dresses, quietly waiting and listening to Sister Johns' welcome message. Despite my best efforts to stay focused on her words, I kept looking over at my father, sitting with my mother, and holding a small brown paper bag. He had been so mysterious about that bag and it's contents. When I asked about it, he got that twinkle in his eye that suggested he had something up his sleeve and just said it was his assignment.

36 Things I’ve Learned in 36 Years. Top Story - April 2026.

Have you ever walked away from an argument feeling like you “won,” but deep down you were still unsettled and unhappy? I have. Well, so many times! I won, yes but I was sad and broken inside. What was all the fight for?

Sticking Near The Truly Best

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